Increased Shipments Recrown Samsung As The Market Leader, Apple Loses Top Spot

The global smartphone industry shows healthy signs of growth, as total shipments increased 7.8 percent year over year to 289.3 million units in 2024’s first quarter. Though macroeconomic changes exist in many markets, the smartphone market is recovering reasonably, a good indicator for giants like Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi. However, amidst the healthy growth rate, Samsung has regained its position at the top of the most popular smartphone brands in the world (in terms of shipment).

Apple Loses The Top Spot To Samsung

According to the latest report by IDC Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Tracker, Apple has lost the top spot to Samsung. The iPhone maker’s shipments fell significantly over the previous quarter. The resurgence of Chinese brands has impacted Apple’s sales in the country.

“While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter,” says the IDC report. The research firm also believes that the two companies will maintain their hold on the high-end smartphone market.

Further, the Chinese smartphone brands have shown vital signs of recovery in their native market. The report also highlights the increase in average selling prices (ASPs) as customers want to spend on devices they think will last longer.

Here’s Where The Top Smartphone Companies Stand

The Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung regained the first position (which it lost in the last quarter) with 60.1 million units shipped in Q1 2024. This gave the company 20.8 percent of the market share. Although the IDC report doesn’t mention it in particular, we believe introducing AI-based features on the Galaxy S24 series had a major role to play.

The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple comes in second. By shipping 50.1 million smartphones, the company captured 17.3 percent of the global smartphone market. Chinese smartphone brands Xiaomi, Transsion, and Oppo occupy third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively.

While Xiaomi shipped 40.8 million smartphones to capture 14.1 percent of the market, Transsion (which owns brands like Itel, Tecno, and Infinix) shipped over 28 million smartphone units. Oppo, on the other hand, shipped 25.2 million smartphones to capture 8.7 percent of the global market.

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